1 Samuel 14:29
Context14:29 Then Jonathan said, “My father has caused trouble for the land. See how my eyes gleamed 1 when I tasted just a little of this honey.
Lamentations 4:17
Contextע (Ayin)
4:17 Our eyes continually failed us
as we looked in vain for help. 2
From our watchtowers we watched
for a nation that could not rescue us.
Lamentations 5:17
Context5:17 Because of this, our hearts are sick; 3
because of these things, we can hardly see 4 through our tears. 5
Joel 1:18
Context1:18 Listen to the cattle groan! 6
The herds of livestock wander around in confusion 7
because they have no pasture.
Even the flocks of sheep are suffering.
[14:29] 1 tc The LXX reads “saw.” See v. 27.
[4:17] 2 tn Heb “Our eyes failed in vain for help.”
[5:17] 3 tn Heb “are faint” or “are sick.” The adjective דַּוָּי (davvay, “faint”) is used in reference to emotional sorrow (e.g., Isa 1:5; Lam 1:22; Jer 8:18). The related adjective דָּוֶה (daveh) means “(physically) sick” and “(emotionally) sad,” while the related verb דָּוָה (davah) means “to be sad.” The cognate Aramaic term means “sorrow,” and the cognate Syriac term refers to “misery.”
[5:17] 4 tn Heb “our eyes are dim.” The physical description of losing sight is metaphorical, perhaps for being blinded by tears or more abstractly for being unable to see (= envision) any hope. The collocation “darkened eyes” is too rare to clarify the nuance.
[5:17] 5 tn The phrase “through our tears” is added in the translation for the sake of clarification.
[1:18] 6 tn Heb “how the cattle groan!”
[1:18] 7 tn Heb “the herds of cattle are confused.” The verb בּוּךְ (bukh, “be confused”) sometimes refers to wandering aimlessly in confusion (cf. Exod 14:3).